UPSC aspirant's death turns out to be murder; live-in partner and friends arrested

NEW DELHI: A young woman and her friends were arrested in the murder case of civil service candidate Ramkesh Meena (32). 21-year-old Amrita Chauhan, her ex-boyfriend Sumit and friend Sandeep Kumar have been arrested. They confessed to the crime during a detailed interrogation.

As per the confession, Amrita and Ramkesh have been in a live-in relationship for some time now. The relationship soured as Amrita alleged Ramkesh of filming their private moments and storing them all on a hard disk. The accused confessed to using ghee and wine to set Ramkesh's body on fire.

A fire broke out in a flat on the fourth floor of Timarpur on October 6. The fire brigade extinguished the fire, but Rakesh's charred body was found inside the flat. However, after the family raised suspicions about the death, the police registered a case and started an investigation. The inspection of the CCTV footage proved crucial in the case.

Before the fire broke out, the CCTV visuals showed two masked men entering the building. Later, one of them came out. After some time, a woman also came out with the second man. This woman was Amrita Chauhan, Ramkesh's live-in partner. The fire broke out in the building immediately after they came out. The police found that Amrita's phone location was near the flat at the time of the incident. Amrita's phone was switched off after the incident. The accused was caught on October 18th.

Amrita told the police that she met Ramkesh in May this year and that the two started dating instantly. They lived together in a Gandhi Vihar flat. During this time, Ramkesh recorded Amrita's private videos and saved them. Despite many pleadings, Ramkesh refused to delete the videos. Amrita then approached her ex-boyfriend Sumit, who supplies LPG cylinders in the locality, for help. He came up with the idea of an LPG cylinder explosion to cover up the murder. The accused, Amrita, is a forensic science student. It is reported that Amrita binge-watched crime series to prepare herself for the murder.

On the evening of October 5, Sumit and Sandeep strangled Ramkesh to death. Then, they poured oil, ghee and wine on Ramkesh's body to start the fire. Sumit took out a gas cylinder from the kitchen and placed it near Ramkesh's head. As he turned the knob, the room started filling with gas. Amirta, during this time, took away Ramkesh's two laptops, hard disk and other belongings. After completing all the checks, Sumit lit the fire using a lighter and locked the main door. After about an hour, the cylinder exploded as they left the building. Although there were no clues of the murder in the room, the CCTV footage proved crucial. The police recovered the hard disk and other belongings of Ramkesh that led to the murder. The two mobile phones of the accused were also seized. The accused will be produced in court soon.